


the fool rushes in

by heartslogos



Series: i'd rather fall among the stars [2]
Category: Warframe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-01 09:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10919274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartslogos/pseuds/heartslogos
Summary: Judge sags in relief - he’s pretty sure that she believes him. Or at least, is interested enough in visiting Earth during the night - on what he’s made to sound like a peaceful walk - that she’s dismissed whatever bad tells he was showing.He is in so much trouble.(But that’s his Untouchable. Trouble, trouble, trouble.)-aka the space date with feelings





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [suspectmind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/suspectmind/gifts).



Judge is decidedly off kilter when he goes to find Kore in the Red Veil headquarters. How all six of the Syndicates were able to set up offices next to each other in every relay without coming to violence is beyond him.

It had taken him a little longer than he’d thought to negotiate with a few other Tenno he was on actual speaking terms with. Mostly because it’s incredibly hard to tell when another Tenno is awakened from the dream or not, and also because Kore firmly refuses to work with anyone for longer than necessary. And since Judge is almost always with Kore - well, mostly _after_ he woke up from the dream - that means Judge hasn’t had much of a chance to form bonds with the other Tenno, either.

After that he was immediately summoned - unexpectedly - to the Arbiters where he was subject to an incredibly embarrassing and surreal vetting.

(“We feel that you have strayed from the path, Tenno. This destroyer from the Red Veil corrupts you and your purpose.”)

Overall, Judge feels like he’s had his head thrown into a centrifuge and it doesn’t help that he had to go through both Cephalon Simaris _and_ Suda before meeting up with the other Tenno. Both meetings ran a little long in that both Cephalons were watching over his shoulder as he went through their data bases and making comments that he’s certain they wouldn’t be happy to be told were really -

Well. Not logical?

Judge feels like he’s going to burst straight out of Mag at any second. He’s pretty sure that his knee is jiggling back in his Orbiter. Or something.

The doors to the Red Veil headquarters slide open, and the first wave of heat always makes him want to double take. A few heads turn his way, many of the Red Veils Respected and Honored turn to give him odd looks.

He isn’t exactly _unwelcome_ here - at least, not as unwelcome here as he is with the Perrin Sequence and New Loka - but it’s a close thing. The Red Veil’s sent a few death squads after him, mostly out of protocol.

Kore’s dealt with them all with an easy, precise, almost bored lack of attention. It reminds him that during the war she was one of the best soldiers. Good enough, even, to warrant Ballas’ attention, himself.

Judge flips open his general broadcast - “Is Persephone here?”

If she’s not here she’d be with the Steel Meridian, but if possible Judge would like to avoid going there. He tends to get teased. At least the members of the Red Veil keep silent about their dislike of him. Aside from the ever ominous heavy and filtered breathing through their masks.

One of them approaches now, looking Judge’s warframe up and down slowly, appraising him.

“Are you worthy?” It - Judge can never tell if the members of the Red Veil are biologically male or female - murmurs.

Judge doesn’t know how to answer to that. He feels Kore deeper in the room, and looks up for her -

It takes him a second to place her. Kore rarely switches between her warframes unless she has a very specific task - and even rarer still, she doesn’t really change the colors of her warframes very much either.

He had known she’d recently obtained the modification blueprints to alter her Frost frame, but he didn’t think he’d - uh. Encounter it here.

“Revered one,” The Red Veil members nod and lower their heads to her as they pass. The glittering crystals hanging off of Frost’s horns seem to spark like lightning in the flames she walks over.

“Hades,” his name slides over across the network.

“Are you worthy?” The same Red Veil member repeats to him and Kore looks between the two of them.

Judge chooses to ignore this.

“Are you good to go?” Judge asks.

Frost’s shoulders shrug, walking past him. He jumps when he feels Frosts’s cold metal hand smack Mag’s ass, “Yeah. We’re good.”

She switches to their private channel, her voice doing a remarkable and humbling amount to soothe his frazzled nerves. “What took you so long? I was starting to think I’d actually have to accept promotion here if I couldn’t talk my way out of it.”

“Again?” Judge asks.

Kore doesn’t actively work with Red Veil - their respect for her mostly comes from her close work with the Steel Meridian.

“Mhm,” Frosts’s head nods, arm slinging around Mag’s shoulders as they head back to their retrieval ships. “When you said quick stop at the relay, I didn’t realize you’d take so long.”

“I didn’t realize I’d take so long, either,” Judge replies. He really hadn’t anticipated just _how many people would want to talk to him._

Mag leans into Frost, just a little bit. Frost is cold, but Mag was designed to not overheat in battle, so it’s fine.

Judge hopes that someday Kore is comfortable enough around him to touch him as easily as she touches others with her warframe.

“So what were you in meetings about?” Kore asks, ignoring everyone - Judge attempts to wave at a few frames he recognizes, but Frosts’s long legs force Mag to half-trot to keep up.

“I have something - a research thing for Suda,” Judge half-lies. He’s terrible at lying - he’s never had a reason to - and Kore has a very strong, very accurate, very perceptive radar for lies told to her. “Are you free tonight?”

Kore hums, a sound that tickles Judge’s ear through their com-line and also seems to make Frosts’ metal chassis vibrate. No sound through Frost, though, just cold mist over the frame’s faceplate.

“Depends, am I going to be diving into the Derelict to save you again? Or have we learned that particular lesson?”

Judge grimaces. “I mostly had it.”

“Mhm,” He can picture her rolling her eyes, “I’m free.”

“I’ll come get you. Suda’s requesting more data on Titania’s grove. Now that the fires are out and it’s recovering I figure this would be a good time to gather data on regrowth.”

Frost’s body stiffens in the way Judge knows to mean that he has Kore’s attention, even though she doesn’t want to show it.

“Earth?” She confirms, “A night cycle on earth?”

“Yeah,” Judge says, “I’ll come get you when I’m ready.”

“Alright,” Frost’s arm falls from Mag’s shoulders as Kore moves towards her retrieval unit, stepping onto the body-shaped crevice. Judge watches the warframe get locked into place and slowly rotated into the retrieval unit as it takes off.

Judge sags in relief - he’s pretty sure that she believes him. Or at least, is interested enough in visiting Earth during the night - on what he’s made to sound like a peaceful walk - that she’s dismissed whatever bad tells he was showing.

He is in _so_ much trouble.

(But that’s his Untouchable. Trouble, trouble, trouble.)

-

He has six cans of Kore’s preferred fizz-cola. Darvo’s assured him that it’s quality stuff - not going to eat through a person’s insides or corrode any metals and stuff. Judge’s had a few tastes of the fizz-cola Kore’s been attempting to synthesize back on her orbiter and he can’t really see why she likes it so much.

Kore says that it’s because she hasn’t found the right formula let.

Judge also has the entire grove - and a reasonable section of land surrounding it - protected by the other Tenno for the night.

(See, Kore? It’s a _good_ thing to network and build a persona and stuff.)

He’s also gotten some modest bedding to roll out on the forest floor and some cool old Earth stuff he found in Suda and Simaris’ archives.

Judge swallows, fingers reaching down for Ugly - _Handsome_ , Judge has no idea why the Kavat responds to Ugly and blames Kore entirely on it - who nudges his nose against Judge’s fingertips before skulking off to - most likely - destroy one of Judge’s model ships.

He really _really_ wants this to go well. For him it’d be nothing short of a small miracle if it does, but if it works - if it makes _Kore happy_ -

Judge’s chest begins to bubble and foam with energy as he rocks back and forth on his feet, hands opening and closing.

The thought of Kore smiling under the stars really shouldn’t be making him wound up so much. Judge forces himself to try and calm down.

There’s a significant chance that despite everything he’s planned and thought up she’s going to absolutely hate this.

Because, really, he had thought taking over her ship and forcing her to talk to him was a good idea too. Until he actually _boarded it_ , and walked in on her standing in front of her transference room, red faced and looking more hurt and angry than he’s ever seen her before.

That memory hurts more than almost everything else Judge has to remember.

He doesn’t know if maybe he was born lacking the ability to think ahead and to control himself, or if that’s just a side effect of -

Of -

 _Of_ -

The war changed them, Judge reminds himself - layering Kore’s voice over them. _We may not have been Orokin once we left the void, but we weren’t beasts until the Orokin took us._

Judge closes his eyes, and pushes down on the feelings, tries to reel them in and put them in place. He tries to line them up and arrange them in sequence, into something that flows and is understandable and logical. Into something that doesn't spiral out of control and rip at the seams and unravel.

He swallows, throat dry and consciously wills himself not to chew on his lip. Judge’s body sways and he reaches out -

“Hey,” Kore’s voice - very real, very close, and very soft -

Judge yelps, eyes flying open and jumping back - a burst of void energy explodes from his fingertips and Kore raises her arms - her own pale green-gold energy - rising to meet his in a deflective shield.

“I - what are you?” Judge looks around, and is suddenly very grateful that his thoughts _don’t_ exactly stick together in ways that make sense because all of his research and idea screens, through his eyes, create a very clear picture of what he has planned for tonight. But as bad as he is at zooming in on a single outcome, he’s even worse at keeping a straight line of thought.

Kore gives him an annoyed look, “You hailed me and told me to come over ten minutes ago. You said that your ship was open so I came in. Midas looked worried - sorry.” Her expression softens, “I should have used the coms first, I know, but. You looked like you might hurt yourself.”

Judge grimaces and nods, roughly rubbing at the back of his neck.

After he burst in on her, they’d agreed to only board after either being invited or being let in. And after Kore had found him - uh - not present? They’d also agreed to hold off until the other was acknowledged.

Kore steps closer to him, eyes narrowing on his face. She raises her hand and gestures to her own face, “You bit your lip again.”

Judge pokes his tongue at his lip, wincing. The skin isn’t broken, but it is tender.

“I don’t know how you can tell.”

“I can smell it,” Kore replies and he has no idea if she’s serious or not. Kore’s teeth flash in the low lights of his orbiter and the lights of his screens.

Judge feels his skin begin to heat up. He can never tell if it’s Void energy being restless or just _him_ being restless. Either way, he’s glad that his orbiter’s lights are very dim and that his own skin usually hides the beginning signs of his blushes.

“So,” Kore says, “Are you ready to deploy or no? I’ll grab coordinates for the drop from your cephalon. Put something on your lip and maybe clean out some of your garbage.”

“Ready,” Judge croaks, swallowing nervously as Kore sighs at him, shaking her head. She bends down to give Midas a quick belly rub before she stands up again and heads back to her ship. “And it’s not garbage. It’s _research_.”

-

Kore looks suspicious when they drop and Judge is in his Ash frame. Judge figures that if Kore gets upset he’d stand a better chance of escape if he’s in Ash rather than Mag or Nova.

Judge waits for Kore to look around - she always takes a few seconds to just. To just _bask_ in Earth.

Judge watches her through Ash’s optics. Kore looks nothing like one of Ballas’ Saryns. They were beautiful, yes, powerful, very. But Ballas’ Saryns looked - they looked something like what Judge thinks the Old Earth humans though Angels were meant to look like. White, effervescent, and radiant things. Still and silent.

Kore’s Saryn is dark and stark, unforgiving and harsh colors that speak for her.

She is still, to him at least, beautiful.

Saryn’s black faceplate turns back to him and nods that she’s ready to go.

They make their way through the forest with ease - he can feel Kore getting more and more suspicious as they get closer to Titania’s Grove. The Grineer have had trouble getting close, but normally it isn’t this quiet.

Thankfully, they don’t run into any of the Tenno Judge asked favors from on the way.

As soon as they’re in the clearing, Kore skids to a stop, Saryn’s heels crunch on loose soil as she takes in what’s in front of her.

“Judge,” Kore’s voice is low, rasping in the way that means she’d be bristling if she were a Kavat, hackles raised if she were a Kubrow, “What’s going on?”

“Um,” Judge carefully transports himself through Ash, tensing at the combined feel of the fresh night air and Saryn’s unreadable gaze. “I thought. Uh. I just wanted to - “

“You _thought_?”

“ _I wanted you to have a nice night for once_ ,” Judge blurts out. “You never leave your warframe.”

“Judge, we’ve been over this.” He can hear Kore’s voice start to tick towards anger. “You know I don’t - “

“You don’t feel safe,” Judge says. “I know. But we’re in Titania’s Grove. On Earth. Is there a single thing on Earth that you and I can’t handle? That we haven’t been able to handle since we were unawakened dreamers? I called in some favors.”

“Favors?” Kore sounds mildly incredulous.

“I keep telling you it’s a good idea to work a persona,” Judge replies. “People respect me as Hades. They think you’re a myth or my adjunct - “

Kore’s voice swings over from real anger to her normal sort of riled up irritation, “Take it back or I break yours.”

“ _It’s because you never talk, you’re like a ghost and that isn’t the point here_. I asked some Tenno to keep the area clear for a bit,” Judge says, holding his hands out to her. “You’re here. In Titania’s Grove. There’s only _one_ entrance.”

Saryn’s head pointedly looks at the open cave ceiling.

“And the other entrance is _pretty obvious_ ,” Judge says. “There is nothing that can hurt you here. There is nothing that will get to you here. Not through all the Tenno that hunt tonight, not through the two entrances that we have eyes on, not through _me_.”

Saryn stands, an unmoved pillar of poison.

“ _Judge_ ,” Kore’s voice is strained between anger and hurt and understanding.

“Kore,” Judge says, “Even if you don’t leave your Warframe - that’s alright, too - but can you just - relax for once? Enjoy yourself? We have no mission here, no objectives. We can just look at the stars. Play with grass.”

Judge turns around and reaches into his gear box and holds up two cans of fizz-cola.

He can _feel_ Kore’s eyes locking onto them through Saryn’s optics.

“Have a drink?” Judge suggests.

Kore’s tongue clicks harshly through the coms. Saryn turns and stomps off towards the rising slope at the back of the grove.

“Fool,” She mutters, darkly.

Judge breathes out a slow sigh of relief. She’s mad. But not mad enough to leave. That was, honestly, what he was expecting. Worst case scenario.

Judge follows after her, Ash silently following his movements behind him.

Saryn is standing, arms crossed, hip cocked as she stares up at the opening to the sky.

While her eyes are turned away Judge quickly prepares what he had stored here earlier.

Sleeping rolls and blankets he’d traded a probably dumb amount of credits for at Maroo’s.

Judge sits down on them, rubbing the fabric between his fingers and feeling something like electricity race up his skin. He wants to curl up in it, in all of it. The grass, the moonlight, the fabric, the metal of the fizz-cola cannister, _Kore_.

“Your neck will get a crick,” Judge says, lying down.

Saryn turns to look at him, fingers tapping angrily - but no spores showing. Not yet.

Ash has settled down, back against the farthest rock wall of the grotto, optics firmly locked onto the entrance they came in through.

Saryn looks between Judge and Ash before Kore lets out an explosive sigh.

Judge holds his breath, feels it hitch in his belly.

Saryn goes and sits a few feet apart from Ash, and Kore slowly steps out of her - the gold-green of her void energy covering her like a light film and illuminating the shadows before Kore materializes. Scowl and all.

Saryn’s hands fold in her lap, and her faceplate slowly turns towards the sky.

Kore stands in front of her warframe, the only light reaching her the glow of the crest on her chest and the faint yellow-green of her inner eye.

Judge slowly rises onto his elbows, reaching down to his side and holding up the fizz-cola to her. It should be the temperature she likes by now.

Kore’s expression twists before she stomps over and snatches it from his hand, moving away to sit at the edge of the small jutting cliff at the zenith of the grove. He hears her pop it open - and the fizz of the drink inside.

“I’m mad at you,” Kore says.

“That’s more than fair,” Judge sits up fully, slowly dragging his finger in circles around the edges of the second can. He had considered bringing the entire case, but not even Kore would drink that much in one sitting. If anything, he can send the rest to her later as an apology.

Kore’s shoulders hunch.

“I don’t like being in the open.”

Judge _loves_ being in the open - loves touching everything, feeling everything. But that’s because the war touched him in an entirely different way than it did Kore.

Judge remains quiet. Keeps his mouth shut for once in his life.

“I was on display a lot,” Kore says slowly. “And before that - do you remember what it was like in the Zariman? Our _hovels_?”

Judge remembers. They didn’t claim much space to themselves. They lost a lot of it after the first few times their - the adults broke through.

“Everyone was always touching,” Kore says. “You could always feel someone next to you. Hear them breathe. You couldn’t even piss without someone being there. Almost on top of you.”

It helped when it was cold. And it was cold.

“I hated it. I wish I really was as Untouchable as you like to think I am,” Kore spits out. “And afterwards you’d think it’d have been better. All of us isolated in our cells to be studied. But no. It was worse. We _didn’t want_ to be that close in the Zariman. We didn’t want to touch each other. We did our best. The Orokin touched us. Probed us. Examined us. Looked at our teeth and our hands and our ears and our eyes and our _everything_.”

Judge remembers that, too.

Parts of it.

At the time his Void powers would switch on and off - they had to knock him out for most testing. Drug him.

“They’d pet you, too. _Good girl_ ,” Kore sneers the words. “Like pets. Like _things_.”

Judge does not have that experience. Mostly Judge was left alone. Alone.

(In the dark. Bite his lip to remind himself it was there. Hit his head against whatever the could get for the sound, the feeling of the muzzle digging into his skin. Remind himself that the metal was - in certain parts - cold because his skin couldn’t reach it. Hum through the bit for the buzzing in his teeth. Dark. No helping it. So dark. Blocked his Void lights. Closed his eyes. No helping him. _It’s so dark_.)

Judge drags in a breath as he drags himself out of the memory.

This is for Kore.

“I don’t like to be touched,” Kore says, “I don’t like it when people look at me.”

Kore turns to look at him, “Ballas said my coloring matched my call sign. Told me I had to _shine_ for him. Told me I had to be _beautiful_. For her. For Margulis. _I didn’t even like Margulis_.”

“You’re Kore,” Judge says when she doesn’t say anything more. “You don’t have to be _anything_.”

Kore’s head jerks down. “I _am_ Kore.”

She turns back towards the sky again, sharply.

“You can go back to your warframe,” Judge says softly, “You can go. I just wanted this for you. I wanted you to have one moment where you could do what you wanted, where you could relax as _you_. Not through the eyes of something else. Not through another body.”

“I’m not like you, Judge,” Kore sighs, “Transference isn’t like it is with you and yours.”

“But transference still isn't the same as _actually being there_ ,” Judge presses.

No matter how much she and her warframes meld, there will always be a difference.

Kore is quiet as she drinks her fizz-cola, pink hair turned a sort of lavender-blue in the moonlight.

Earth’s wind brushes her hair a little. Judge can see the glints of the metal in her ears from here.

She is Untouchable. Parts of his chest unravel for her, unsteady.

“You’ve always had my back, Kore,” Judge says, carefully. “At least for one night - can you let me have yours?”

Kore shivers, head ducking down.

“Fool, you’re already looking at it.”


	2. Chapter 2

Kore takes small sips from her can of fizz-cola. Judge watches her. He watches as her shoulders slowly, slowly relax and slowly slope downwards as she leans back to look at the sky.

He traces his fingernail in a circle around the remaining can next to him.

“Hey,” Judge says, softly.

Kore’s head tilts towards him.

“Got something else for you,” Judge says, and beckons his Helios over from where the sentinel had been lying next to Ash.

Helios slowly lights up and glides over to him. Judge nods at it and a few of its lights blink in what Judge thinks might be an _affirmative_ before it zooms off towards Kore, various segments spinning and flickering.

Kore’s head turns to watch the sentinel - Judge can see her frowning -

And then the music starts.

Kore jumps, falling back onto her elbows and scrambling back, knocking over her can of fizz-cola. It’s, luckily, empty.

“What?” Kore gapes as the sentinel bobs in the air, music playing from some speakers that Judge had _finally_ figured out about three days ago.

“Um, Simaris and Suda had conflicting ideas,” Judge says when Kore looks towards him, “About what you’d like. I was going through Suda’s archives _first_ \- “

He can see Kore’s eyebrows slowly raising, “Is _that_ why you took so long?”

“And then when I went to see if Simaris had anything else - uh. _I didn’t realize how much he liked you_.”

Kore’s teeth flash as she laughs. Judge grins back before clearing his throat and lowering his voice - “Hunter, I am beginning to doubt your perception. Clearly you are misinformed. Hunter Persephone would never be impressed by such a weak display of pitifully arranged and unorganized data sound files.”

Kore’s laughter grows louder. She leans back on her hands, head tilting back as the sound bubbles out of her, bursting like fireworks in the sky.

Judge thinks that even her Saryn’s tendrils are moving like they’re laughing.

“And of course, you know what happened when I told him that I got that data from Cephalon Suda,” Judge continues, leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees. “ _Hunter!_ You would trust the data of such a damaged Cephalon? Cephalon Suda cannot be trusted with such an important matter. Disregard what she has told you.”

Kore stops laughing long enough to say, “Good thing Suda wasn’t in contact.”

“Oh no,” Judge agrees, “That was _before_ I was getting the music files and when I was just searching their archives for ideas on what to do wit you in the first place. I kept going back and forth and every time I’d have one of them over my shoulder - it’s not so bad with Cephalon Suda. She’s kind of average sized. But with Simaris?”

Kore’s elbows give out and she’s flat on her back, knees curling up to her chest as she laughs.

“ _No_ ,” Kore moans, turning onto her side, “ _No!_ ”

“It’s just this giant orange projection zoomed in over my shoulder and all the other Tenno and people on the relay are looking at me like - _what’s this guy looking for?_ ” Judge continues, “And it’s the two of them bickering in this weird back and forth. Like every single time I go in to look for something or to cross reference files the other says the other is so incredibly wrong and I was _this close_ , Kore, _this close_ to saying that they’re starting to sound like each other and maybe they’re a data match.”

Kore _screams_ into the fold of her arm, “ _They’d kill you_.”

“Nah, Suda likes me too much for that,” Judge says, “And I figure Simaris would at least want me in his archive, so it’s not like I’d be _really_ dead. Just digital. I think I got a good selection, though.”

Judge watches as Kore’s laughter slowly dies down, and she sits up, brushing grass off of her hair and the sides of her suit. She looks relaxed - really relaxed - now, and Judge feels something in him ease. The Void energy inside of him still circles and crashes and collides in a storm that makes everything feel _bubbly_ and wobbly, but at least the rest of his nerves aren't falling apart anymore. At least, no more so than usual.

He holds up the other can of fizz-cola to her.

Kore tilts her head, pushing to her feet - dusting off the rest of her suit as she stands.

“You didn’t drink it?” She asks, walking over to him and taking the can.

“I don’t like the taste,” Judge says.

Kore rolls her eyes, opening the can with a quiet _pop_. “It’s not _about_ the taste. I hate the taste. It’s like battery acid or whatever kind of toxic sludge Helminth thinks it can slip me when I’m not paying attention.”

“You’re always paying attention,” Judge replies dutifully. “Wait, you don’t like it? _For as long as I’ve known you outside the dream you’ve been trying to make it!_ ”

“I _like it_ ,” Kore says, “I just don't like the taste of it. It’s not about the taste. It’s about the _feel_. The fizz part of the fizz-cola.”

Judge feels his face twist in confusion.

Kore rolls her eyes.

“Get up,” She says, putting the can of fizz-cola down. Judge blinks and Kore lightly kicks his knee. “Up.”

Judge slowly stands up and watches as Kore picks up the blankets and padding he got and hauls them to a respectful distance from the altar and puts them down.

She starts to flatten them out and rearrange them.

“Lie down,” She says.

Judge blinks and starts to sit down again.

“ _Judge_ ,” Kore sounds exasperated as she looks at him - “I meant _over here_.”

“Oh.” Judge shoots a nervous glance at their warframes. Saryn is still looking at the sky and Ash seems to be ignoring him entirely. Judge can’t tell if he’s projecting or if that’s true, though. Judge slowly crosses the few feet to Kore.

When she just looks at him expectantly, he slowly gets down onto his knees, crawling on top of the bedding before cautiously turning to lie on his back.

His nerves are back again at full force and the energy inside of him is startling to wobble precariously towards _unraveling_.

Kore watches him - the yellow-green of her inner eye is distinctly visible despite the low lighting - and nods once.

She then starts to unzip the top of her suit -

Judge doesn’t actually make any sounds, but he does choke on something. Air. Saliva. Void energy trying to escape through his mouth?

Kore takes off the top of her transference suit, carefully folding it and  setting it down at the bottom corner of the nest she had made. He stares at her, stares at the plain undershirt she’s wearing and her arms and her neck and her collar bones and -

“On your side,” Kore orders, voice crisp and demanding no protests. Judge blinks an mechanically rolls onto his side, pulse pounding. He feels Kore get onto the mats behind him.

He jerks when he feels her knees line up behind his, her front pressing against his back and her arm going over his side.

Kore’s nose and mouth nudge against the back of his neck. Her arm squeezes him tentatively.

“I don’t like to be touched,” Kore says lowly. He can feel her talking through the back of his suit as she curls close to him. Judge thinks that his heart is about to actually _slam_ it’s way through his chest. “But I know _you_ like it.”

She pauses, the unspoken _and I like you_ hangs in the air between them like a breath.

“And I - I don’t mind _touching_ as much as I mind _being touched,”_ Kore says. “So - is this okay?”

Judge nods, not trusting his voice not to be a pathetic squeak right now.

Kore doesn’t like a lot of things, but when confronted with either the possibility of those things happening in a vague unspecified time and place not of her choosing, or of Kore going to seek those things out and get them out of her way on her own terms -

Well. Simaris is completely on point in more than one way when he refers to Kore as _hunter._

Kore’s hand slowly slides up his chest, and he can feel her fingers opening, splaying and feeling out -

Judge brings his hand to his chest and carefully touches his fingertips to the back of her hand. Kore blindly tangles their fingers together, drawing Judge’s hand towards his chest. She can probably feel how hard his heart is pounding right now.

“I like this song,” Kore says. Most of the songs he’d found were fragmented - broken apart. But he’d found a few decent files left. Nothing Orokin, of course.

“Yeah?”

“Mm,” Kore nods against his back. “I like the breeze, too. Feels good. You’re right. I can’t feel this in a frame.”

“You’re not cold?” Judge asks.

Kore shakes her head, “Mm. No. M’good. Void makes me run hot.”

He didn’t know that. The Void tends to make Judge just feel - pressure, in general. Not exactly hot or cold. Just - pressure. Judge feels his smile slowly return and he lets out a long sigh.

“You good?” Kore asks, knee nudging the back of his leg.

“Yeah,” Judge says, “I was just - _worried_. I really do just want you to be happy, Kore. At least - I wanted you to be able to enjoy one night out in the open without being afraid. I’m not very good at this - planning and focusing on things. But I’m learning.”

“Quick learner,” Kore mumbles, voice low. Judge slowly runs his thumb over hers and she squeezes his fingers.

Judge closes his eyes and - and just listens. The music Helios is playing. The sounds of the water and Earth’s breeze. The sounds of the night around them - Kore’s low breathing.

He squeezes her hand tight. It’s not so bad when he can’t see. It’s just when - he can’t _move_. Can’t hear things.

That’s when it gets hard.

Judge focuses on trying to get his Void energy back under control. It’s related to his emotions, he knows - and he also knows he’s really stupidly happy and excited right now. But he’d rather not ruin it by accidentally _exploding_.

Kore’s trusted him with this - trusted him to keep her safe and not hurt her. He’s not going to ruin this.

Destroy it.

Judge swallows, squeezing Kore’s hand a little tighter. He bites his lip, fighting to hold still. To not move and squirm and turn over and hold her and press his face to her hair or anything like that. On Kore’s terms, he reminds himself.

There are still sounds. He _can_ move. There is nothing - physically - stopping him from moving. He’s surrounded in open space. There is nothing holding him aside from Kore and Kore is _Kore_.  It’s dark because he closed his eyes. He can open them _whenever he wants to_. This is fine. This is fine. He is in control. This is -

 _There’s no more music_.

Judge freezes.

“Judge?” Kore’s voice is soft - worried - and Judge feels his heart kick in his chest, off beat. He should probably breathe but he’s -

Where are the other sounds? The energy inside of him starts to slip past his control - uneven, wobbling, teetering, off balance and quickly unraveling and he can’t hear anything over that pound inside of him and -

 _“Judge!_ ” Kore quickly rolls him onto his back and Ash is there, pulling him out from under her and Saryn yanks Kore back, holding Kore to her chest, brilliant green poison spores  beginning to mist out from her hand as she cradles Kore to her chest, the white tendrils on her shoulder and crest writhing with alarm.

Ash’s arms are tight around him and that isn’t what Judge needs - _Judge needs to move, he needs to let Kore know it’s alright, he’s fine - it’s -_

But Ash doesn’t know that. Ash doesn’t understand - Ash is just trying to protect him from something that Ash can’t understand. All that Ash knows is that Judge is hurt, is panicked, and is reacting to something. And Judge can’t get his head together properly to convey that to Ash in a way that the frame can process.

Judge does not and probably will never have the level of communication Kore seems to have with her frames.

 _Ow._ Judge feels his lip break with how hard he’s biting it and _this is not how he wanted this to go at all_ -

“Judge!” Kore yells out again, pushing herself out of her Saryn’s arms and ignoring Ash as Judge’s frame drags Judge back and tries to turn away from her. “Judge, it’s okay. It’s okay. Judge? What’s wrong? Judge, talk to me.”

Kore’s fingers are with his again, prying his hands open. Her hands are so warm. _You can’t feel things in a dream_ , Judge reminds himself. Kore is real. Judge is not asleep. Judge is not dreaming.

Judge is feeling Kore’s skin with his own.

He squeezes his eyes shut. Kore’s hands on his. His heart pounds - blocking out all the other sounds, almost as loud as the Void inside of him, both sounds slowly overtaking Kore’s voice as she tries to talk him down. Ash’s arms are still to tight for him to move.

But he can feel Kore’s hands. Warm. Moving. _Real_.

Enough proof that this isn't part of a dream.

He slowly starts to drag himself back together. Under as much control as he ever will have. Judge doesn’t know how long it takes -

He gets back eventually. He always does.

The process of getting his brain back together - to focus - always leaves him a bit dazed.

“Sorry,” Judge rasps out as he slowly tries to catch his breath, grimacing at the taste of blood in his mouth.

Kore’s hands squeeze his and her eyes are wide. “Judge?”

“Got nervous,” Judge says and Kore just stares at him. “It happens. I got better?”

Judge carefully starts to pry himself out of Ash’s arms. Kore turns around and goes to sort out her own frame, carefully talking Saryn into sitting back down. Saryn’s spores dissipate harmlessly after a few seconds of Kore gently talking to her but Saryn’s faceplate is firmly directed at Judge.

Kore hurriedly grabs one of the blankets and comes back, throwing it around Judge’s shoulders as she pulls him back towards the bedding.

“Can you talk about it?” Kore asks once he’s seated with the blanket held around him. The Void’s energy has shrunk down low now, Judge feels drained. Empty. He didn’t discharge, he knows - there’s no damage and he would have felt it, but he’s swung towards the quiet side of things and he’s off balance. Sensitive, in a way.

“I get overwhelmed sometimes is all,” Judge says, “Sometimes - I just.”

Kore sits a bit away from him, but she’s leaning forward, listening.

“I was underground for most of the war,” Judge blurts out, “I wasn’t - I couldn’t be trusted to deploy a lot. I couldn’t control my Void energy. _At all._ It was always just going, going, _going_. So they chained me to the inside of an asteroid when I wasn’t in transference. It was dark. And quiet. And really - _disorienting_.”

Judge stares down at the dull bedding, squeezing his hands into the fabric around his shoulders. He rubs the material between his fingers - friction, heat, anything.

“Transference always feels like - I’m removed? Like I’m in a haze? Like I’m not moving, but not really? Like it isn’t really me making decisions. Everything - everything gets scrambled and I have trouble thinking. But one minute it’d be dark and completely quiet and I can’t move at all and the only thing there is is the Void and then the next I’m Mag? Or Trinity? Or _something_ and I have a mission but I don’t remember where I got it from and I’m fighting but I’m not exactly sure how? I just. I just wanted to go, go, _go_. And now I know why - it’s because transference is kind of like a dream, it is _the_ dream, so I’m not actually there but at the same time I am and.” Judge sucks in a breath. And slowly releases it. “And sometimes it’s hard to remember which is which because I can get stuck in my head and I forget. It’s weird. It _passes_.”

“Does it have triggers?” Kore asks, softly.

Judge shrugs, “Sometimes it’s because it’s too dark. Or maybe it’s too quiet. Or I can’t move. Things like that. It’s all over the place, like I am.”

Judge’s attempt at a joke falls completely flat. He glances up and sees Kore looking at Helios.

“So when Helios ran out of music files - ?”

Judge looks the sentinel that’s worriedly hovering over them, optic camera twitching as it glances from him to Ash and Saryn and Kore.

“I shouldn’t have run out of files,” Judge says, “I had like - _a hundred of them_.”

“You had _one hundred sound files for one night_?” Kore asks, “ _How long did you think we’d be here_?”

“I wanted to be prepared! Half of them were under two minutes anyway!”

“So that’s one hundred minutes plus? Wait, no - focus. So when it went quiet, you got - nervous? And,” Kore pauses, slowly moving back, “You couldn’t move because I was holding you - and it’s night - “

Judge lurches forward, careful not to touch her - “No, it’s not. _It wasn’t you_. I - touching you - feeling you there with me helped. A lot. Because you - you breathe and you’re warm and obviously _not a dream_. I’m just a mess. You know that.”

Kore’s eyes search his for a long moment before she gets up. Judge scrambles after her, but Kore barks out - “Stay there.”

Judge freezes and watches with a sinking stomach as Kore steps into her warframe.

He waits for Saryn to leave, but Saryn stays seated. A few moments later, Kore materializes again.

“Close your eyes and open your mouth,” Kore says. Judge blinks up at her.

“What?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“Close your eyes,” Kore repeats, softer, kneeling in front of him, “And open your mouth.”

Her eyes are earnest and Judge trusts her - he’s trusted her before he even _knew_ her - and closes his eyes, and opens his mouth.

Kore places something small between his teeth, “Close. And chew.”

Judge closes his mouth and tentatively bites down on -

Judge yelps, eyes flying open. _It’s cold_.

Kore rattles a container in her hand.

“Chewing gum,” Kore says, “I thought maybe if you had this you wouldn’t chew on your lip so much. But - you know - you can’t taste things in dreams.”

Judge stares at her.

“And even in the transference you cant taste anything,” Kore continues, holding out the container to him. Kore’s mouth twists ruefully, “Warframes have no mouths.”

Judge’s slowly takes the container from Kore - every chew releases a fresh burst of cold across his tongue. He shakes out a few more pieces into his hand. Each square is a different color.

“How?” Judge asks.

“Saw it at Maroo’s when I was exchanging for endo,” Kore answers, slowly moving to sit next to him again. “I’d read about it in a few files I’d browed at Simaris’ place before when I was bored.”

Judge idly wonders if this was before or after she’d made Simaris shed a digital tear with how proficient she is at hunting targets for synthesis.

She leans her head on his shoulder and Judge lightly turns to rest his cheek on her hair.

“I’m a mess,” Judge says, “But you knew that already. I’m sorry.”

“We’re Tenno,” Kore shrugs, “We’re all messes.”

Judge runs his tongue over the gum in his mouth, confused at the taste and the feel but - “Is this what you mean by the feel?”

Kore hums, “Just don’t swallow it. I’m told you aren’t meant to. I think you spit it out or throw it away or something. Wait, _do spit it out, don’t choke on it, Judge._ You can’t choke on this thing.”

“Kore, I’ve choked on my own spit before. You can’t tell me _not to choke on something_.”

“You aren’t making me feel any better.”

“At least I’m being honest about it. I mean, have I _ever?_ ”

Kore groans and rubs her cheek against his shoulder.

“Kore?”

“Mm?”

Judge slowly puts his hand open on his knee, “It really wasn’t you that made me lose it like that. I’m sorry. And I - didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Kore slowly puts her hand onto his, closing their fingers together.

“I know.”

“I like it when we touch,” Judge says. “I don’t want you to feel that - that we can’t. I don’t want it to be that way. That you think that it’s - it’s like those other times with - ”

“I don’t think of touching you like when the Orokin touched me. I like touching you, Judge. And being touched by you.”

“Really?” Judge turns his head a bit more and Kore nods.

“I like it. _Sometimes_. I’m just,” Kore shrugs, “Bad at it.”

“Well. I’m bad at - a lot of things. So. I guess we’re even?”

Judge can _hear_ Kore rolling her eyes. But she doesn’t let go of his hand.

“Judge?” Kore says after a few moments of silence. The taste of the gum in his mouth is sharp, and it chills his breath. He feels amazingly awake.

“Yes?”

“I did have a good time tonight. Mostly,” Kore says slowly, “I appreciate it. What you did for me. For thinking about me.”

“I’m glad, I didn’t actually mean for it to go out of control like that.”

“So you’ve said. I know. It happens,” Kore says, “I mean it, Judge. I - it’s hard for me. But this was nice. A little warning would be good next time, maybe. A heads up.”

Judge nods, “I can do that.”

They both know it’s a work in progress - foresight. His brain tends to jump ahead and the rest of him tries to follow and not a single part of him thinks about possible problems with his solutions and ideas until he hits against them full speed. As Kore would say, _the fool rushes in_.

Usually she says that under her breath as Judge, does indeed, rush in and she has to go after him.

Judge closes his eyes and feels himself slowly relax against her.

She always rushes in right after him, though. So judge figures that he’s good. They’re good.


End file.
